President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday his administration will “have to take a look” at deporting Elon Musk after the billionaire reignited the feud with the president over his spending bill.
Musk, a South African national and a naturalized U.S. citizen, made several weekend X posts slamming Republicans over the “Big Beautiful Bill,” arguing that it was adding more debt.
“It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS that we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!!,” Musk posted Monday afternoon.
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk speak in the Oval Office before departing the White House in Washington, on the way to Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, March 14, 2025.
Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images
Trump pushed back with a Truth Social post early Tuesday claiming Tesla CEO Musk was upset about the bill eliminating the electric vehicle (EV) mandate and that “Elon would have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa.”
When asked by reporters later in the morning if he would deport Musk, Trump said, “We’ll have to take a look.”
“We might have to put DOGE on Elon,” he said, referring to the Department of Government Efficiency that Musk previously spearheaded as a special government employee.
Musk posted his response to Trump’s Tuesday morning comments on X.
Elon Musk listens as President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington, Nov. 13, 2024.
Allison Robbert/via Reuters
“So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now,” Musk wrote.
When asked by ABC News about Musk’s criticism, the president reiterated that it was about the EV mandate.
“He should’ve known I wouldn’t do that, I couldn’t do that. I campaigned on those things for two years. I never understand why he did what he did, but he’s not going to get his mandate, and he better be careful, because he might not get anything else. You know what that means, right?” he said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
